Cape Epic 2023 - How the race was won

Our Cape Epic 2023 highlights

Absa Cape Epic

Lance Branquinho

Mar 27 2023

The Absa Cape Epic statics are simple: eight days of racing across mountainous Western Cape terrain in South Africa. The route spans 402 miles (648km), climbing 50,777ft (15,475m). Intimating numbers, but it’s the terrain texture and weather that make the Cape Epic so feared.

During previous Cape Epics, heat has been the kingmaker. Although the event is scheduled for early autumn in South Africa, there are often days that edge beyond the comfort spectrum, regarding temperature. For most non-domestic riders, who aren’t from desert environments, heat fatigue is a real issue at the Cape Epic.

But this year’s event was not hot. The weather conditions which influenced its outcome were wind and rain. And a stage so watery and muddy that it humbled even the world’s greatest stage-racing mountain bikers.

Wind – not heat

Much was expected of defending champions, Germany’s Georg Egger and Lukas Baum. Racing with new sponsors and slightly more support elements, Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company were favourites. But at the Cape Epic, it's about survival and strategy. And the latter is where a former winner and South Africa’s foremost stage racer, Matt Beers, showed his skill.

Unusually large for a pro-XCM mountain biker, Beers was paired with American Christopher Blevins. The Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne team had a terrible Stage 1, finishing 12th. This stage, which looped around the renowned whale-watching town of Hermanus, featured bitter headwinds. It suited smaller riders with established aero-position road racing skills. The wind was a nightmare for a tall and broad-shouldered rider like Beer.

After Stage 1, it appeared that the Cape Epic title would be a race between Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company and Scott-SRAM Racing, staffed by Nino Schurter and Andri Frischknecht.

The team dynamics of a Cape Epic are often underrated by those unfamiliar with the event. If a partner’s rim dents or derailleur bends, it’s a team issue. And even more tellingly: if one teammate is weaker or feeling ill, they set the pace. Nino Schurter is the favourite for any race he enters. But at the Cape Epic, finding a suitable teammate for the Swiss mountain bike legend is challenging – even among the pro ranks.

Racing tactics matter at the Cape Epic

Beers and Blevins showed their ability by winning Stage 2, ahead of Egger and Baum, with Schurter and Frischknecht completing the podium. As the event transitioned from Hermanus to the Elgin valley, on stage 3, tactical awareness made the difference.

Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company are crowd favourites at the Cape Epic. Their dramatic final stage performance in 2022, delivering a ‘come-from-behind’ victory, is a feature of how the German duo of Egger and Baum ride: a risk-on approach.

But on Stage 3, Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company were tactically naïve and lost the win to Beers and Blevins in a final sprint. The difference between Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne and Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company at the Stage 3 finish was only 1.4 seconds.

The Stage 4 time trial allowed riders with injuries or mental fatigue to reset. At only 47km, it was less than half the average distance of a Cape Epic stage, and looping around the forest singletrack of Oak Valley, it rewarded technically confident riders. The finishing order for Stage 4 was Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne, Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company and Scott-SRAM Racing.

The Queen stage

Stage 5 was the Queen of this year’s Cape Epic. It routed from the Elgin valley into the Helderberg basin and would bring riders back in view of the famous Table Mountain in the distance. Heavy overnight rain created havoc on the route, with streams and tributaries flooding many technical sections and creating ruts.

The Queen stage was always going to be exhausting at 63 miles (102km) and 8038ft (2,450m), but the wet and wild conditions amplified its risk. The pros charged into axle-deep water and streams, disregarding the texture of rocks beneath the water's surface. Crashes were a reality, even among the lead group.

Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company were rewarded for their high-risk approach to the Queen, taking a win and carrying the overall lead into the penultimate Cape Epic stage. Despite impressive wins throughout the week, Beers and Belvins, were still more than seven minutes behind the overall leaders when Stage 6 started.

The ‘real’ Queen stage

The Cape Epic’s most memorable stages are never happy moments. They either feature unrideable climbs, which are too steep and rocky, or extreme heat. At this year’s Cape Epic, Stage 6 looked like something from a Scottish mountain bike trail ride in January. It was muddy beyond belief. The kind of stage racing conditions you’d never expect in Africa.

Driving rain turned the clay-surfaced trails of the Helderberg basin into unrideable mud. When the world’s greatest cross-country mountain biker speaks of it as one of his most challenging days on a bike, you know it’s tough. But even Schurter struggled.

The Cape Epic riders attempted to climb and descend singletrack trails which had become steams, disregarding the negligible grip of their shallow tyre treads. Even with dedicated mud tyres, it would have been an impossible day on the bike, but there are no excuses for weather or trail conditions at the Cape Epic.

Beers and Blevins took the Stage 6 win. Their victory in arguably one of the most brutal stages in Cape Epic history was strategically significant. Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company finished eight on Stage 6, losing valuable time after a derailleur issue.

The final day from Lourensford to Val de Vie would route along some of South Africa’s most celebrated trails. Scott-SRAM Racing rolled into the Lourensford start chute with the overall event lead, followed by Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne, 1:32.4 behind, and Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company, 5:32.2 behind in the overall, after their nightmare on Stage 6.

A dramatic final day – again

Like the 2022 Cape Epic, the last stage would provide hectic racing for the overall win.

Matt Beers is intimately familiar with the singletrack routes that would constitute much of the final stage’s riding. But so is Nino Schurter, who keeps an off-season training base in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The South Africans assumed local knowledge would not be an advantage, as it was countered by Schurter’s vast experience of the same terrain.

Egger and Baum repeated their final day stage win from last year, but it was not enough to prevent Beer and Blevins, who finished second the day, from taking the overall. Scott-SRAM Racing’s overall lead evaporated, as Schurter was again much stronger than his riding partner, with the team finishing fifth.

A second overall victory for Matt Beers, and the first Cape Epic winner’s medal for Christopher Blevins, was a worthy result for Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne. Cape Epic pundits must be left wondering who Schurter’s ideal teammate would be. The Swiss looked effortlessly comfortable all week and could have won if he had a teammate more aligned with his race pace.

The women’s race saw immense mental fortitude from South Africa’s Amy Wakefield. After puncturing her bicep during Stage 1, she still rode to victory. Wakefield then had emergency surgery in the evening and returned to the start chute for Stage 2, following very little sleep.

Wakefield and her riding partner, Candice Lill, lead the women’s category for most of the week. But a disastrous rear wheel issue on the nightmarish Stage 6, cost them too much time, finishing fourth – nearly 40 minutes behind the winners, defeating their 13-minute general classification lead.

The Cape Epic overall women’s winners were Mauritius’s Kim Le Court (a powerful road rider) and Namibia’s Vera Looser. But Wakefield’s riding, with a severe wound, was unquestionably the most courageous pro mountain biker performance at this year’s Cape Epic.

Cape Epic men results

Toyota-Specialized-NinetyOne: Matthew Beers, Christopher Blevins – 26:17:04
Orbea X Leatt X Speed Company: Georg Egger, Lukas Baum – 26:20:53.5 (+00:03:49.5)
SCOTT-SRAM MTB-Racing: Nino Schurter, Andri Frischknecht – 26:21:15.6 (+00:04:11.5)

Cape Epic women results

Efficient Infiniti Insure: Kim le Court, Vera Looser – 33:11:37.7
e-FORT. net | SeattleCoffeeCo.: Amy Wakefield, Candice Lill – 33:44:02.3 (+00:32:24.6)
NinetyOne-songo-Specialized: Sofia Gomez Villafane, Katerina Nash – 33:54:55.4 (+00:43:17.7)

Author block

Lance Branquinho

Lance Branquinho is a Namibian-born media professional who graduated to mountain biking after injuries curtailed his fascination with trail running. He has a weakness for British steel hardtails, especially those which only run a single gear. Lance is an award-winning writer who has contributed to myriad piblications all over the world including Cyclingnews, Bike Perfect, MBR, Topgear, TopCar and Car magazine.